Professional Documents
Culture Documents
COGENERATION
March 2001
This Guide has been produced under the auspices of
EDUCOGEN
CONTRACT N° XVII/4.1031/P/99-159
Funded in part by
SAVE Programme
COGENERATION GUIDE
GUIDE TO COGENERATION
CONTENTS page
THE AIM OF THE GUIDE 3
PART ONE
WHAT IS COGENERATION? 3
THE BENEFITS OF COGENERATION 4
WHERE IS COGENERATION SUITABLE? 6
COGENERATION IN EUROPE 8
HOW DOES COGENERATION WORK? 10
TECHNICAL STATUS OF COGENERATION 11
ECONOMICS OF COGENERATION 11
PART TWO
INTRODUCTION 13
COGENERATION TECHNOLOGIES 13
PRIME MOVERS 13
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH SYSTEM 26
GENERATORS 27
COGENERATION HEAT:POWER RATIO 28
APPLICATIONS 28
COGENERATION INSTALLATION 31
FUEL SUPPLY OPTIONS 32
SITE APPRAISAL 34
ECONOMIC ASPECTS 37
FINANCING COGENERATION 40
ANNEX I - GLOSSARY OF TERMS 42
ANNEX II - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 49
GUIDE TO COGENERATION
AIM OF THE GUIDE
This Guide has been produced by COGEN Europe to explain the principles and
applications of cogeneration. In compiling the Guide COGEN Europe has drawn the
experience of its membership, especially the Cogeneration Policy Working Group.
Our thanks to those individuals who provided data, comments and their time. In
addition COGEN Europe has drawn upon some excellent documents produced by
national programmes.
1 This Guide was produced as part of the EDUCOGEN Project. This Project is led by COGEN Europe and
INESTENE. The consortium also includes . The project was partially supported by a grant from SAVE II
Programme of the EC. Contract n° XVII/4.1031/P/99-159
PART ONE
WHAT IS COGENERATION?
The principle behind cogeneration is simple. Conventional power generation, on
average, is only 35% efficient – up to 65% of the energy potential is released as
waste heat. More recent combined cycle generation can improve this to 55%,
excluding losses for the transmission and distribution of electricity. Cogeneration
reduces this loss by using the heat for industry, commerce and home
heating/cooling.
Cogeneration is the simultaneous generation of heat and power, both of which are
used. It encompasses a range of technologies, but will always include an electricity
generator and a heat recovery system. Cogeneration is also known as ‘combined
heat and power (CHP)’ and ‘total energy’.
Through the utilisation of the heat, the efficiency of cogeneration plant can reach
90% or more. In addition, the electricity generated by the cogeneration plant is
normally used locally, and then transmission and distribution losses will be negligible.
Cogeneration therefore offers energy savings ranging between 15-40% when
compared against the supply of electricity and heat from conventional power stations
and boilers.
Because transporting electricity over long distances is easier and cheaper than
transporting heat, cogeneration installations are usually sited as near as possible to
the place where the heat is consumed and, ideally, are built to a size to meet the
heat demand. Otherwise an additional boiler will be necessary, and the
environmental advantages will be partly hindered. This is the central and most
fundamental principle cogeneration.
When less electricity is generated than needed, it will be necessary to buy extra.
However, when the scheme is sized according to the heat demand, normally more
electricity than needed is generated. The surplus electricity can be sold to the grid or
supplied to another customer via the distribution system (wheeling).
• In some cases, where there are biomass fuels and some waste materials such as
refinery gases, process or agricultural waste (either anaerobically digested or
gasified), these substances can be used as fuels for cogeneration schemes, thus
increasing the cost-effectiveness and reducing the need for waste disposal;
The timing of the site’s electricity demand will also be important as the cogeneration
installation will be most cost effective when it operates during periods of high
electricity tariffs, that is, during the day.
At current fuel prices and electricity tariffs, and allowing for installation and life-cycle
maintenance costs, payback periods of three to five years can be achieved on many
cogeneration installations.
Environmental savings
CO2 savings
The assessment of the carbon savings from a cogeneration project is hotly debated,
as it is very difficult to prove what electricity it displaces. This issue has been at the
heart of a long running discussion in European markets, with no agreement. Does
the cogeneration scheme displace:
Depending on the answer the savings in carbon dioxide can vary from 100 kg per
MWh to more than 1000 kg MWh. The same issue faces all projects that displace
other electricity generation.
Cogeneration
Gas turbine with waste heat boiler
Heat to power ratio 1.6
Efficiency 80%
Emissions of CO2 per unit of fuel 225 g/kWh
Emissions of CO2 per kWh of electricity 581 g/kWh
If it is assumed that cogeneration displaces electricity from a mix of fuels and heat
from a boiler with a mixed type of fuels, the savings per kWh will be 615g/kWh.
As explained later in this document, the current share of electricity produced from
cogeneration in the EU is about 10%. The EU target is to reach 18% by 2010. The
following table illustrates what this target could achieve in terms of CO2 emissions
reduction. The results are different depending on the fuel being displaced:
Buildings
• District heating
• Hotels
• Hospitals
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 6
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
Renewable Energy
• Sewage treatment works
• Poultry and other farm sites
• Short rotation coppice woodland
• Energy crops
• Agro-wastes (ex: bio gas)
COGENERATION IN EUROPE
The development of cogeneration in the European Union is characterised by a wide
diversity, both in the scale of development and in the nature of that development.
This diversity reflects differences in history, policy priorities, natural resources,
culture and climate and has close links with the structure and activity of electricity
markets. The following chart reflects, as far as possible, the state of development of
cogeneration in the different countries (noting that countries collect data in different
ways).
EU
UK
Sweden
Spain
Portugal
The Netherlands
Italy
Ireland
Greece
Germany
France
Finland
Denmark
Belgium
Austria
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Austria
Austria has strong environmental policy credentials, and cogeneration has therefore
always been regarded as a technology to be encouraged. Both industrial and district
heating sectors have developed relatively well, the former through the benefits that
the technology can bring to high energy intensity users and the later as to a
response to energy price rises in the 1970s and central state support.
Denmark
• Oil crisis at the beginning of the 70s. At the time, Denmark was 90% dependent
on foreign oil. Nowadays, Denmark is self sufficient in oil and gas;
• Environmental concerns.
Finland
• Absence of barriers;
• There tends –at least in the past, but maybe less so at present- greater
acceptance in Finland for longer payback times;
The Netherlands
The success in the Netherlands has been achieved through strong promotional
activities and a clear positive policy framework introduced by the government. This
has been though favourable gas tariffs, tax advantages, initial grants/subsidies and
national targets.
Cogeneration plants are available to provide outputs from 1 kWe to 500 MWe. For
larger scale applications (greater than 1 MWe) there is no "standard" cogeneration
kit: equipment is specified to maximise cost-effectiveness for each individual site. For
small-scale cogeneration applications, equipment is normally available in pre-
packaged units, helping to simplify installations.
Plants for industrial applications typically fall into the range 1-50 MWe, although
some larger systems have been installed. It is difficult to define what is large and
what is small, because every country has different sizes and different appreciations
in this respect. In general, it can be said that from 1 MWe to 10 MWe it will be
medium, and bigger than 10 MWe will be large. Non industrial applications cover
also a full range of sizes, from 1 kWe for a domestic dweling to about 10 MWe for a
large district heating cogeneration scheme. Everything under 1 MWe can be
considered small-scale. “Mini” is under 500 kWe and “micro” under 20 kWe.
Intensive developments over the past two decades have made a wide variety of
equipment available, enabling cogeneration packages to be matched accurately to
site requirements. Furthermore, legislation over this period has made it easier to
install and operate cogeneration.
supplies around 10% of both the electricity generated and heat demand in the
Community.
In the last 10-15 years, significant technological progress has been made to enable
engine and turbine technology to be widely implemented and promote more
decentralised forms of cogeneration and power generation. Cost-effectiveness and
decreasing emissions have resulted. There are an increasing number of varied
applications in industry and residential areas and which can be used in heating and
cooling applications.
Some of the more minor barriers that face the remaining sites in these type of
application, and which face sites in less traditional cogeneration applications, can be
alleviated by technical developments.
• Too low tariffs for surplus cogenerated electricity sold to the grid;
• Very severe tariffs for standby power and, in particular, back-up power supply;
• Lack of freedom to ‘wheel’ (third party access) or, when allowed, too expensive to
consider;
However liberalisation, as reality has proven (at the time of writing this guide, the
electricity and gas markets in Europe are being liberalised and there is a long way to
go before full liberalisation is achieved) at least in the short term, brings new barriers
if the market is not structured in such a way that allows for fair treatment. Recent
experience brings the following set of barriers:
• The first effect of liberalisation has in many cases been a considerable reduction
in the electricity prices. In some countries the prices have been lowered below
cost and this makes it unprofitable to invest in or run cogeneration plants. This is
aggravated by the willingness of some governments to pay large sums of
stranded cost to the electricity utilities and the massive overcapacity in old,
inefficient power plants;
• Closely related to the last point, environmental costs are almost never included in
the energy prices and neither are avoided costs for the use of the network;
• The adopted systems for access to the network are proving to be a new barrier in
more than one country. Without going into great detail, it can be said that they
are often very complicated to understand and expensive.
In the long term, provided policy makers make the necessary fine tuning to correct
the market where is needed, the problems mentioned above should be solved, and
cogeneration will have a good future.
PART TWO
INTRODUCTION
Cogeneration has long been deployed in energy intensive industries that have large
concurrent heat and power demands. The most commonly used system for these
applications was traditionally the steam power generating cycle, using steam turbines
which allowed exhaust steam to be used for process heating.
Intensive developments over the past two decades have made a wide variety of
equipment available, enabling cogeneration packages to be matched accurately to
site requirements. Furthermore, legislation over this period has made it easier than
ever before to install and operate cogeneration.
• large scale cogeneration schemes for district heating based around a power
station or waste incinerator with heat recovery supplying a local heating network;
COGENERATION TECHNOLOGIES
Cogeneration plant consists of four basic elements:
Depending on the site requirements, the prime mover may be a steam turbine,
reciprocating engine or gas turbine. The prime mover drives the electricity generator
and waste heat is recovered. The basic elements are all well established items of
equipment, of proven performance and reliability.
PRIME MOVERS
Cogeneration units are generally classified by the type of prime mover (i.e. drive
system), generator and fuel used. The following sections examine the main types of
cogeneration unit and the factors affecting their use and application.
• Steam turbines;
• Reciprocating engines;
• Gas turbines;
• Combined cycle.
New developments are bringing new technologies towards the market. COGEN
Europe expects some of these to become economically available from in the next ten
years.
• Fuel cells;
• Stirling engine;
• Micro-turbines.
The following table summarises the main types of systems available, together with
their typical size range, heat to power ratio, efficiency and heat quality.
Steam Turbines
Steam turbines have been used as prime movers for industrial cogeneration systems
for many years. High-pressure steam raised in a conventional boiler is expanded
within the turbine to produce mechanical energy, which may then be used to drive an
electric generator. The power produced depends on how much the steam pressure
can be reduced through the turbine before being required to meet site heat energy
needs. This system generates less electrical energy per unit of fuel than a gas
turbine or reciprocating engine-driven cogeneration system, although its overall
efficiency may be higher, achieving up to 84% (based on fuel gross calorific value).
For viable power generation, steam input must be at a high pressure and
temperature. Residual heat output is relatively low grade. Typical inlet steam
conditions are 42 bar/400oC or 63 bar/480oC. The temperature required by the
process dictates actual outlet steam conditions. The higher the turbine inlet
pressure, the greater the power output, but higher steam pressures entail
progressively greater boiler capital and running costs. Optimum pressure therefore
depends on the size of the plant and the required process steam pressures. Steam
cycles have the great advantage that the associated boiler plant can be designed to
operate on virtually any fuel, including gas, heavy fuel oil (HFO), coal, residues and
municipal or other wastes, and are often capable of operating on a range of fuels.
Steam cycles typically produce a large amount of heat compared with the electrical
output, resulting in a high cost installation in terms of Euro/kWe. However, the
integration of an incinerator (burning a waste fuel, such as clinical waste, farm
wastes or municipal solid waste) with a steam turbine based cogeneration unit can
be cost-effective. Power outputs are generally greater than 500 kWe. Incineration
however raises concerns over the production of undesirable emissions. As an
alternative, some types of waste can be gasified and the resultant gas used to fuel a
gas turbine (or possibly even a gas engine) installation.
Steam turbines fall into two types, according to exit pressure of the steam from the
turbine:
The simplest arrangement is the back-pressure turbine in which all the steam flows
through the machine and is exhausted from the turbine at a single, relatively low
pressure suitable for use on-site. Where more than one grade of heat is required,
the higher grade is supplied by extracting 'pass-out' steam at the appropriate
pressure part-way along the turbine. Such extraction carries a penalty in terms of
reduced electrical output.
Fully condensing turbines maximise power output by expanding all the steam down
to a vacuum using a condenser. This produces such low-grade heat that it is not a
cogeneration proposition as a general rule. However, pass-out steam can be
extracted (as from back-pressure turbines) to meet site heat demand. The site heat
load governs back-pressure or pass-out/back-pressure steam turbines and so the
power output is dependent on that heat load. However, a pass-out/condensing
turbine frees the generator of this constraint.
Gas Turbines
The gas turbine has become the most widely used prime mover for large-scale
cogeneration in recent years, typically generating 1-100 MWe. A gas turbine based
system is much easier to install on an existing site than high-pressure boiler plant
and a steam turbine. On many sites plot space is at a premium, a factor weighing
heavily in favour of gas turbines. This, together with reduced capital cost and the
improved reliability of modern machines, often makes gas turbines the optimum
choice.
The fuel is burnt in a pressurised combustion chamber using combustion air supplied
by a compressor that is integral with the gas turbine. The very hot (900ºC-1200oC)
pressurised gases are used to turn a series of fan blades, and the shaft on which
they are mounted, to produce mechanical energy. Residual energy in the form of a
high flow of hot exhaust gases can be used to meet, wholly or partly, the thermal
demand of the site.
A gas turbine operates under exacting conditions of high speed and high
temperature. The hot gases supplied to it must therefore be clean (i.e. free of
particulates which would erode the blades) and must contain not more than minimal
amounts of contaminants which would cause corrosion under operating conditions.
High-premium fuels are therefore most often used, particularly natural gas. Distillate
oils such as gas oil are also suitable, and sets capable of using both are often
installed to take advantage of cheaper interruptible gas tariffs. In principle, residual
fuels may be used if sufficiently free of contaminants, although in practice this is rare
in industrial cogeneration applications. LPGs and Naphtha are also suitable, LPG
being a possible fuel in either gaseous or liquid form. Waste fuels such as biogas
and landfill gas are applicable providing their calorific values (or to be more precise
the wobbe index) are relatively constant and their composition are consistent,
ensuring that the hot gas leaving the combustion chamber is maintained at the
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 16
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
required temperature. Note that the hot gas leaving the combustion chamber when
using a low calorific value fuel such as biogas will not be the same as when
operating on natural gas – it is the mass flow through the turbine that determines
power output.
Waste gases are exhausted from the turbine at 450oC to 550oC, making the gas
turbine particularly suitable for high-grade heat supply. The usable heat to power
ratio ranges from 1.5:1 to 3:1 depending on the characteristics of the particular gas
turbine. The plant ingests three to four times more air than is required simply to
supply oxygen for combustion. The excess air is necessary to ensure correct cooling
of the components in the whole gas path. It also means that the final exhaust gases
contain large quantities of oxygen that may be used to support the combustion of
additional fuel. This technique (supplementary firing) may be used to increase
exhaust gas temperatures to 1,000oC or more, raising the overall heat:power ratio to
as much as 10:1 (although up to 5:1 is more typical). Supplementary firing, also
known as boost firing, is highly efficient, as no additional combustion air is required
to burn extra fuel. Efficiencies of 95% or more are typical for the fuel burned in
supplementary firing systems. This technique is different from auxiliary firing, which
does require additional combustion air, so is a less efficient method of raising
temperature. Gas turbine systems consequently offer flexibility to serve variable
heat loads and to meet higher temperature demands.
• For direct firing and drying processes. The single flow of heat at high
temperature is suitable for processes in which direct contact with combustion
gases is permissible. This means that intermediate fluids (steam, hot water, heat
transfer fluids) are unnecessary, and hence, in theory, the highest levels of
thermal efficiency can be achieved. However, it is important to assess whether
the direct use of the exhaust gases will affect product quality, and for this reason
direct use is normally restricted to natural gas-fired gas turbines;
• To raise steam at medium or low pressure (normally 8-18 bar) for process or
space heating in an open-cycle gas turbine cogeneration plant which comprises a
gas turbine-alternator unit and a heat recovery boiler.
• To generate hot water, best for high temperature hot water applications where
temperatures in excess of 140°C are required. In certain circumstances, they can
also be applied to Air CHP systems;
• To raise steam in a HRSG at high pressure for use in a steam turbine (see later
section on CCGT);
The 'shaft' efficiency (the proportion of heat in the primary fuel converted to
mechanical power) can range from 20% to 45%, depending on the type of gas
turbine, its inlet temperature and pressure and other power-enhancing features. 25-
35% is typical in practice.
Gas turbines are available in a wide power output range from 250 kWe to over 200
MWe, although sets smaller than 1 MWe have so far been generally uneconomic
due to their comparatively low electrical efficiency and consequent high cost per kWe
output. This is starting to change (see section on new technologies).
The turbine is typically mounted on the same sub-base as its generator, with a step-
down gearbox between the two to reduce the high shaft speed of the turbine to a
speed suitable for the generator. A gas turbo-generators is extremely noisy and
generally housed in an acoustic enclosure which, for industrial applications, is itself
usually located in a factory-type building to provide weatherproofing and further noise
attenuation. The enclosure also serves to contain the fire risk and to localise and
minimise the fire prevention equipment required. Combustion air is taken from
outside the enclosure. The intake ducting is fitted with filters to remove dust and a
silencer to minimise noise. However, it is not necessary to install a gas turbine
indoors. The acoustics enclosures can be of waterproof and sufficient noise
attenuation fitted to reach very low levels (85 or 80 d BA are becoming accepted
standards).
The substantial nature and conservative design of industrial gas turbines mean that
they are inherently reliable and require minimal running maintenance. Shutdown
maintenance is undertaken at extended intervals and is usually carried out by the
manufacturer on a contract basis. Overall, about 96% reliability may be expected.
The gas turbine technology has been successful in developing NOx reduction
techniques. These techniques for gas turbines aim to reduce combustion chamber
temperatures and thereby limit NOx formation. This is often achieved by injection of
water steam, which is traditionally used to boost power output, or more recently by
dry low-NOx burner system. Both control techniques substantially limit NOx
formation, nonetheless, where ultra low limits are specified, it can be necessary to
employ end-of-pipe solutions such as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). The
technique chosen will depend upon the requirements of the national legislation or, in
some instances, on more strict requirements imposed by local authorities or the host
of the site. End-of-pipe system can provide negligible NOx emissions, but they do
require additional equipment and reagents, which often add considerable initial and
operating cost to the CHP plant. End-of-pipe systems rely on abating emissions
rather than minimising formation through engine design, so undetected system
failures can result in high emissions.
Reciprocating Engines
The usable heat:power ratio range is normally in the range 0.5:1 to 2:1. However, as
the exhaust contains large amounts of excess air, supplementary firing is feasible,
raising the ratio to a maximum of 5:1. The pulsating nature of the delivery of exhaust
gases from reciprocating engines makes boost firing difficult, so it is comparatively
uncommon, although there are installations where the problems have been
successfully overcome.
Engines and their lubricating oil must be cooled. This provides a source of heat for
recovery, but it is generally low grade and is not always usable. In many applications
the heat recovered from the cooling circuits and exhaust gases is cascaded together
to produce a single heat output, typically producing hot water at around 100°C.
Exhaust heat is always high grade, at up to about 400°C, and represents up to half
of the total heat produced by the engine.
Modern engines use delayed ignition timing and increased compression ratios to limit
NOx formation whilst maintaining high levels of power output and efficiency. This
requires sophisticated fuel injection and engine management system.
The scale of these installations can make the cost of this after-treatment acceptable
within the plant’s overall capital and operating cost.
Spark-ignition engines are derivatives of their diesel engine equivalents and have
their same parameter equivalents as 90°C cooling water. They can also use exhaust
gases for heat recovery purposes; thus plants can be built with 160°C hot water of
20 bar steam output.
Traditionally, shaft efficiency was lower that for compression ignition engines, at
between 27% and 35%, and the output range was limited to a maximum of around 2
MWe. The new above 3 MWe spark ignition engines use pre-chamber, where the
mixture is stoichiometric (see below). The small engines do not have pre-chamber
and they are called open chamber engines or conventional engines. Pre-chamber
engines have 44% shaft efficiencies, exactly the same as bigger diesel engines. The
output of a spark-ignition engine is a little smaller, typically 83% of the diesel
engines, because of the possibility of knocking.
They are suited to smaller, simpler cogeneration installations, often with cooling and
exhaust heat recovery cascaded together with a waste heat boiler providing medium
or low temperature hot water to site.
Spark-ignition engines operate on clean gaseous fuels, natural gas being the most
popular. Biogas and similar recovered gases are also used but, because of their
lower calorific value, output is reduced for a given engine size. Spark-ignition
engines give up less heat to the exhaust gases (and correspondingly more to the
cooling system) than diesel engines. The large lean-burn engines have typically
12% Oxygen in exhaust gases, and this can be used with supplementary firing. This
typically requires some fresh air and has been used also in some cases during hours
when the engine is not in operation.
The following are among the most common applications for the thermal energy
produced by reciprocating engines:
• direct recuperation of the gases. Exhaust fumes can be used directly in certain
processes, such as drying, CO2 production, etc;
• generation of hot air. All the residual energies from the engine can be used,
through the installation of suitable exchange devices, for the generation of hot air.
of a problem than with gas turbines, although the low frequency component can
have a disproportionately disturbing effect on the human ear. This is more difficult to
attenuate and extensive acoustic shielding is required.
Reciprocating machines by their nature have more moving parts, some of which
wear more rapidly than those in purely rotating machines, and have running as well
as shutdown maintenance requirements. Shutdown maintenance, again usually
provided by the manufacturer, is at much shorter intervals. Nevertheless, typical
availability is about 90-96% -according to the Statistics from the North American
Electric Reliability Council 1999, average availability are above 94-96%. When
machines are run at slower speeds, they require less frequent maintenance.
However, there is a penalty since the overall size and weight of the engine are
greater for a given rating.
The comparative maintenance costs of gas turbines and reciprocating engines are
much debated. There is unlikely to be a consensus until a larger body of
cogeneration operating experience enables a truly realistic assessment of lifetime
running costs to be obtained.
Gas engines are operated under two distinct air/fuel ration regimes that have a
market effect upon environmental performance:
• Stoichiometric engines;
• Lean-burn engines.
Stoichiometric engines tend to be smaller (typically <300 kWe) than their lean-burn
counterparts and are based upon standard vehicle engine blocks with adapted
cylinder heads and spark ignition systems. In contrast, modern lean-burn engines
have undergone extensive redesign of combustion chamber geometry, include
sophisticated electronic controls and are fitted with turbochargers to boost power
output and electrical efficiency.
As with gas turbines, SCR is used for highly special applications where ultra low NOx
emissions are required.
Cogeneration diesel plants HFO systems have been built in those places where gas
is not available. This includes many islands and developing countries. In places
where gas availability will arrive later, the plants can use HFO at the beginning and
later switch to gas, or use HFO in winter and gas in summer.
Combined Cycles
Some large systems (power output generally greater than 3 MWe) utilise a
combination of gas turbine and steam turbine, with the hot exhaust gases from the
gas turbine being used to produce the steam for the steam turbine. This is called a
combined cycle.
Gas turbine combined cycle (CCGT) systems have been adopted by public utility
companies where supplies of natural gas are plentiful: power stations of up to 1,800
MWe have been constructed. In cogeneration applications of the CCGT, exhaust or
pass-out steam from the steam turbine is used for process or other heating duties.
The main advantage of CCGT cogeneration is its greater overall efficiency in the
production of electricity, compared with the alternatives described above.
Combined cycles with gas turbines are the most common case, but they can also be
designed with diesel engines. There are at least five cases running in the world.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Stirling engines
There is a more that 60 years experience with this technology, what is newer is its
use for micro-cogeneration boilers. For this type of boilers, there is a need for small
engines with a capacity between 0.2 and 4 kWe. Gas turbines and even gas
engines are unsuited for this kind of size (although the current smallest spark-ignition
engine is 3 kWe), while the Stirling engine offers a good alternative.
The advantages of the Stirling engine are: less moving parts with low friction, no
need for an extra boiler, no internal burner chamber, high theoretical efficiency and
very suited for mass production. The external burner allows a very clean exhaust
and gives the possibility of controlling the electrical output of the engine by reducing
the temperature of the hot side. So there is the possibility of varying the electricity
production regardless the need of thermal heat demand.
There are some low capacity Stirling engines in development or in the market. The
electrical efficiency is still not very high and in the range of 10% (350 We engine);
12.5% (800 We engine) up to 25% (3,000 We engine), but it should be possible to
design then with at least 25% electrical efficiency and total efficiency of 90%.
Microturbines
As explained in the section on gas turbines, systems smaller than 1 MWe have so
far been uneconomic, but this is starting to change. Manufacturers are developing
smaller and smaller systems and nowadays there are microturbines as small as 25
kWe. In general, microturbines can generate anywhere from 25 kWe to 200 kWe of
electricity. Microturbines are small high-speed generator power plants that include
the turbine, compressor, generator, all of which are on a single shaft as well as the
power electronics to deliver the power to the grid. Microturbines have only one
moving part, use air bearings and do not need lubricating oil. They are primarily
fuelled with natural gas, but they can also operate with diesel, gasoline or other
similar high-energy fossil fuels. Research is ongoing on using biogas.
Micro-turbines are smaller are smaller than conventional reciprocating engines, and
capital and maintenance costs are lower. There are environmental advantages,
including low NOx emissions of 10-25 ppm (02 – 15% equivalent) or lower.
• Traditional cogeneration,
• Generation using waste and biofuels,
• Backup power,
• Remote Power for those with “Black Start” capability,
• Peak Shaving.
Fuel Cells
Fuel cells convert the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen directly into
electricity without combustion and mechanical work such as in turbines or engines.
In fuel cells, the fuel and oxidant (air) are continuously fed to the cell. All fuel cells
are based on the oxidation of hydrogen. The hydrogen used as fuel can be derived
from a variety of sources, including natural gas, propane, coal and renewables such
as biomass, or, through electrolysis, wind and solar energy.
A typical single cell delivers up to 1 volt. In order to get sufficient power; a fuel cell
stack is made of several single cells connected in series.
Even if fuelled with natural gas as a source of hydrogen, the emissions are
negligible: 0.045 ppm NOx, 2 ppm CO, 4 ppm HC.
Fuel cells offer a combination of performance and environmental advantages for on-
site cogeneration:
• Their high efficiency is not compromised by small size and they operate high
efficiency at low load;
• They have fewer moving parts and are not susceptible to wear-and-tear arising
from the need to convert explosive combustion into mechanical energy;
• This provides reliable operation combined with infrequent servicing intervals,
reducing maintenance costs and interrupted poser supply associated with
conventional plant;
• Siting flexibility allows by-product heat to be used, doubling energy efficiency.
A number of different types of fuel cells are being developed. The characteristics of
each type are very different: operating temperature, available heat, tolerance to
thermal cycling, power density, tolerance to fuel impurities etc. They are also in very
different stage of development and some of them have not emerged from the
laboratory. Some are approaching commercial breakthrough. This will be covered
by other briefings from COGEN Europe.
The exhaust gases discharged, contain significant quantities of heat, but not all can
be recovered in a boiler. Several factors prevent this:
• For effective heat transfer the temperature of the exhaust gases must remain
above the temperature of the fluid to be heated. A minimum practical
temperature difference of 30°C is typical;
• The latent heat of the water vapour in the exhaust gases can only be
recovered by reducing the exhaust gas temperature to below 100°C, at which
point the water vapour will condense into liquid form and release its latent
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 24
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
heat. Boilers designed to do this are more efficient, but the three previous
constraints still apply, limiting the applications for this technique.
One typical feature of the exhaust heat boiler (or waste heat recovery unit) is that the
typical size is bigger than a conventional fuel-burning unit. This is for two main
reasons:
• The lower exhaust gas temperatures require a greater heat transfer area in
the boiler;
Exhaust heat boilers are not, therefore, ‘off-the-shelf’ items: they need to be
designed for the particular exhaust conditions of the specified turbine or engine. The
usual procedure is to provide the boiler supplier with details of the exhaust gas flow
from which the heat is to be recovered, and with the temperature and pressure
conditions of the required heat output. The boiler supplier will then be able to advise
on the quantity of heat that can be recovered, and the temperature at which the
exhaust gas will be discharged from the boiler.
GENERATORS
Generators convert the mechanical energy in the rotating engine shaft into electricity.
They can be either synchronous or asynchronous.
A synchronous generator can operate in isolation from other generating plant and
the grid. This type of generator can continue to supply power during grid failure and
so can act as a standby generator.
Synchronous generators with outputs below 200 kWe are usually more expensive
than asynchronous units. This is because of the additional control, starting and
interfacing equipment that is required. In general, above 200 kWe output the cost
advantages of asynchronous over synchronous types disappear. There is a trend
however, to use synchronous generators even on cogeneration units with low power
output.
Many large cogeneration units utilise supplementary or boost firing of the exhaust
gases in order to modify the heat: power ratio of the system to match site loads.
Heat:power ratio is the measure generally used in, for example, the UK. Other
countries may use the alpha value, which is the electricity to heat ratio. The
greatest environmental benefits arise by maximising the alpha ratio for a particular
cogeneration installation.
APPLICATIONS
INDUSTRIAL COGENERATION
Industrial cogeneration schemes are typically located on sites that have a high
demand for process heat and electricity all year. Suitable examples are found in the
refining, paper, chemicals, oil, greenhouses and textile sectors. The bulk of
cogeneration capacity on industrial sites come from schemes of over 1 MW e, and
these tend to be designed on an individual basis to meet the specific requirements of
each application. A much larger number of industrial sites have smaller systems,
using technologies similar to the cogeneration systems used in buildings and
commerce. Although numerous, these account for lower levels of total capacity.
The requirements for heat in industry are often in the form of steam and hence the
majority of modern industrial cogeneration systems are based on gas turbines. A
number of larger schemes use combined cycle cogeneration.
District heating (DH) is one of the three main applications of cogeneration. The heat
provided by cogeneration is ideal for providing space heating and hot water for
domestic, commercial or industrial use. The use of DH networks is common in urban
areas in northern, central and eastern Europe where the colder and longer winters
require longer heating seasons, and hence entail longer running periods for the DH
system. DH systems are commonly owned, and funded by public and/or municipal
authorities.
A feature of cogeneration driven district heat is the option of fuel diversity to suit
environmental, economic or strategic priorities. For example, DH systems are
sometimes based on the incineration of municipal waste, and with adequate
emission controls is a better environmental solution than disposing waste to landfill.
DH systems are also able to use biomass.
The use of natural gas as a fuel gives added flexibility to district heating systems.
Engines, providing electricity and heat, in combination with boilers, can introduce
more cogeneration into existing DH networks.
TRIGENERATION
Trigeneration can be defined as the conversion of a single fuel source into three
energy products: electricity, steam or hot water and chilled water, with lower pollution
and greater efficiency than producing the three products separately.
There are different methods for coupling a conventional cogeneration system with a
chiller either by compression (using heat to create cooling) or by absorption
(cogeneration to drive refrigeration compressors).
District cooling
In recent years district cooling has been considered in many locations as a
method for meeting the space cooling requirements of buildings in the residential,
commercial and, at times, industrial sector. It is particularly suitable in urban
areas with high density arrangement offices and residential dwellings requiring air
conditioning.
In this application absorption chillers are often favoured because they don’t use
chlorofluorocarbons and they can be used in conjunction with cogeneration
systems for thermal and electrical energy. The chilling equipment can be based
centrally, with chilled water piped to users, or can be located on the premises of
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 29
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
the user. The most economic choice will depend on the application and
geographical distribution.
District cooling is a recent concept, but is already relatively widely used in the
USA and Japan. In Europe, there is awareness of the technology, but there is
certainly less experience –with the possible exception of Sweden. An additional
barrier that these systems face in Europe, apart of the fact that installing cooling
increases the initial costs of the system considerably, is that the most suitable
applications will be found in the South of Europe, which means, in countries
where there is less experience of district heating (and where networks would
have to be built), and hence less history among consumers or suppliers of the
provision of this type of central energy.
Breweries for instance are very large consumers of refrigeration. Large quantities
of beer must be cooled and stored in cooled place. In large dairies, refrigeration
is required for milk cooling and for deep-frozen products. For deep-frozen food
manufacturers, refrigeration demand for storage temperatures from -20°C to –
30°C exist all year around.
The barriers facing the growth of CHP combined with cooling, can be even more
severe than the barriers for CHP growth. For the time being, it increases the costs of
the system considerably. Nevertheless there is an expectation that this type of
application will increase substantially in the next few years.
COGENERATION INSTALLATION
Operating strategies
• the unit is operated to provide base load electricity and thermal output; any
shortfall is supplemented with electricity from the public supply, and heat from
stand-by boilers or boost heaters;
• the unit is operated to provide electricity in excess of the site's requirements, for
export, whilst all the thermal output is used on site;
• the unit is operated to provide electricity for site, with or without export, and the
heat produced is used on site with the surplus being exported to off-site
customers.
One further option exists in which the cogeneration unit is operated primarily to
provide electricity either for site use or for export, in conjunction with thermal
trimming. Under these circumstances, excess thermal output is dumped (i.e.
rejected to atmosphere via heat exchangers). However, the proportion of heat
dumped reduces the overall efficiency of the plant. This type of scheme is a sub-
optimal solution generally. The optimum regime for each site will depend on:
Cogeneration systems are most often designed to operate in parallel mode, i.e. with
the generator connected alongside the public supply network. This enables the
import of power to supplement that generated on site and the export of power
surplus to site needs. Both the public system and the cogeneration plant need to be
protected against disturbance of supply caused by the parallel system. There are
mandatory requirements for the provision of protective controls and procedures.
It is vitally important that the installed power plant is able to remain stable, i.e. to
maintain synchronism when disturbed by load changes and system faults. A detailed
evaluation of site electrical loads is an essential part of the initial design study. This
will include analysis of switchgear and transformers, operational sequences, load
flows and fault levels (i.e. the maximum current that can flow under a 3-phase short
circuit condition). The existing public network and site network may need to be
modified or reinforced to permit the installation of the cogeneration scheme.
It may be advantageous for some systems to be able to operate in island mode, that
is, entirely independently of the public supply system. In particular, island mode
enables the system to continue operating during times of public supply failure (a
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 31
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
parallel-only installation shuts down with the grid). The proportion of the site capable
of operating under island mode depends on installed capacity and its characteristics.
The practicalities of this mode of operation need to be carefully considered, as it may
require load-shedding facilities that will add to the cost of the installation.
Cogeneration plant can be integrated with standby electrical plant but this is a
complex issue and again requires careful thought and detailed understanding of the
plant or process being supplied. In many cases integration may not be a cost-
effective option, especially for small-scale applications. However, the use of
cogeneration plant as full or partial standby can be a significant advantage and, for
some sites, has been one of the deciding factors in choosing cogeneration.
Where the integration of cogeneration and standby is being considered for a new
building or major refurbishment, a thorough risk analysis should be undertaken and
specialist advice sought.
Key factors in the choice of fuel are possible incentives offered for their utilisation
and the quality of the fuel. Some countries offer incentives for the utilisation of better
quality fuels, such as natural gas, biomass or biogas. Low-quality fuels are
sometimes cheap (but this varies for country to country) but they incur significant
extra costs (on-costs) for handling and burning and to meet environmental
regulations. Good quality fuels are more expensive but have fewer or no on-costs.
Fuels may be solid, liquid or gaseous, and either "commercial" or "waste".
Commercial fuels are fossil fuels that are extracted and treated or refined and sold
nationwide. Waste fuels are by-products or adjuncts of processing. Renewable
energy fuels are not normally traded commercially so are usually only economically
available in specific locations.
Commercial fuels:
• Coal: Coal has been long used in CHP schemes (especially in large district
heating schemes in Eastern Europe and Denmark) but the size of many modern
coal-fired stations means that they are unsuitable for smaller and industrial CHP
applications, since they would produce more heat that could be used even if they
were not located away from the major population centres. Coal-fired CHP
schemes are nevertheless still widespread in countries where coal is plentiful and
cheap. Many are old, relatively inefficient and polluting, but some new plants
embody advanced coal combustion technology.
• Natural gas: the use of natural gas in power generation has been growing since
the 1980s. Its cheapness, flexibility and the fact that it releases less carbon
dioxide emissions per megajoule delivered than coal and oil account for this
popularity.
• LPG
• Naphtha
Solid. There are various sources, such as wood off-cuts from furniture
manufacturers; biomass from forestry and farming; domestic refuse, collected by
municipal authorities and fired in large central plants; and waste tyres.
Gaseous. Biogas, which is impure methane evolved during the decay of organic
matter, e.g. sludge digester gas in sewage treatment works, landfill gas from
municipal refuse tips, is suitable for cogeneration. Synthetically produced biogas can
be produced from various other sources of solid and liquid waste, while process tail
gases (from iron and steel works, chemical plants, refineries) can also be used as
fuel.
The outstanding advantages of these fuels are their low or zero initial cost and the
potential reduction or elimination of the cost of disposal. Potential disadvantages,
however, are the on-costs of storage and handling, treatment and specialised
combustion equipment that may be necessary.
SITE APPRAISAL
It is recommended that the appraisal of cogeneration be undertaken in two stages.
The following table lists the questions that need to be considered at the initial
appraisal stage.
2. Is there a simultaneous base load requirement for electricity and heat which exceeds 20 kW
and 50 kW respectively for more than 4,500 hours/year?
4. Is there suitable access and space for a cogeneration unit and is the location suitable with
respect to other site functions (e.g. noise and exhaust)?
5. Are the fuel and electricity consumption records available on a monthly or more frequent
basis?
6.
If there are any site changes/developments planned, have the possible effects on the
cogeneration size/economics been taken into account?
7.
Is there a requirement to upgrade any part of the existing heating, electrical distribution or
control system as a result of the cogeneration installation?
8.
Is the proposed heat user near to the proposed cogeneration location and electrical
distribution system?
9.
Is there a likelihood that direct funding or an alternative route to funding is available?
NOTE: with micro-CHP this check list is unsuitable as the market drivers for micro-CHP are quite different from
other applications of cogeneration.
If the initial assessment suggests that it is worth proceeding further, then detailed
investigatory work will have to be undertaken and resources allocated. Whether this
work is undertaken in consultation with equipment suppliers, consultants or ESCOs
is a matter of choice depending on financial and human resource availability.
The starting point for all detailed cogeneration feasibility studies is to gain an
accurate assessment of the profile of electrical and thermal loads.
Electrical load profiles can be relatively easily determined using a portable load
monitor. If major differences in consumption and load occur between normal
weekdays and Saturdays or Sundays these must be determined. Also, if the
monthly invoices demonstrate major seasonal variations in consumption (e.g. as a
result of air conditioning loads in summer, or electric heating of portable buildings in
winter) it may be necessary to use the load monitor to determine the time and
duration of any such loads.
Thermal loads are more difficult to measure accurately. However, the importance of
gaining an accurate understanding of the thermal load cannot be over-stressed. A
number of existing cogeneration systems have not achieved their anticipated savings
because the plant was inaccurately specified, sometimes on the basis of existing
installed boiler capacity. For the correct specification of cogeneration, the peak
thermal demand of the site is of much less importance than the base load profile.
Cogeneration is generally only cost effective if a sufficiently large heating or cooling
requirement exists for most of the running hours.
Correct sizing of the cogeneration unit is essential to the viability of the installation.
Furthermore, the correct sizing and choice of the prime mover is only possible if the
heat and electricity demands are clearly defined.
One final important point, cogeneration should not be sized based on a highly
inefficient use of energy on the site. During the evaluation phase opportunities for
reducing the site energy demand should be identified. Those that are cost-effective
should be implemented. If they are not, then at least their impact needs to be taken
into account in the sizing of the cogeneration plant. Failure to do this may result in
an oversized and less economic cogeneration facility.
Other Factors
The location of the cogeneration system will also affect choice of plant. In particular,
the following factors need to be considered:
The main indicators for selection of cogeneration plant are listed in the table below.
In most cases, the choice of the prime mover will be determined by site
requirements. This in turn will dictate the other items of plant.
power demand is continuous, and is over 1 MWe (smaller gas turbines are just starting to penetrate
the market)
natural gas is available (although this is not a limiting factor)
there is high demand for medium/high pressure steam or hot water, particularly at temperature
higher than 140°C
demand exists for hot gases at 450°C or above – the exhaust gas can be diluted with ambient air to
cool it, or put through an air heat exchanger
(Also consider using in a combined cycle with a steam turbine)
Reciprocating engines may be suitable for sites where:
Although the table above will enable a broad choice of prime mover to be made, the
final selection will be on the basis of the particular site requirements.
Other prime mover options are just starting to become available, such as micro-
turbines, fuel cells and Stirling engines. These tend towards the small size ranges.
Considerations also include the long-term availability and cost of fuel, the cost of
electricity purchased, including charges associated with the provision of a back-up
supply, and the credit earned for any exported electricity. In addition, the service and
technical support available from the equipment suppliers, and the proven reliability of
particular machines, may have a significant bearing on the outcome of the selection
procedure.
ECONOMIC ASPECTS
If the technical assessment shows that several alternative cogeneration schemes
might be acceptable (as is frequently the case) an economic assessment needs to
be prepared for each one before the final choice is made. During this evaluation
there will be areas of interface with the technical assessment which may itself be
Capital Cost
Prices are obtained from the appropriate manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and
engineering consultants or professional advisers and added together to arrive at a
"first cut" capital cost. Avoided costs, i.e. those for plant and services which would
have been replaced in any case, should be identified so that the marginal cost of
cogeneration can be derived. The quotations should contain sufficient performance,
delivery and cost information to enable:
Capital costs typically vary from Euro 500 per kWe (for larger schemes) to more than
Euro 1,800 per kWe for the very small and depending on the choice of cogeneration
plant and auxiliaries required.
For gas turbine and large reciprocating engine cogeneration plant, the prime
mover/generator package and associated equipment (auxiliary systems, gas
compressor and back-up distillate fuel storage) frequently represent 40-60% of total
installed cost. The heat recovery equipment (heat recovery boiler and heat
exchangers) and associated equipment (water treatment plant, boiler feedwater
pumps and deaerator) can account for a further 15-30% of the costs, depending on
boiler type, steam pressure and supplementary firing system. Electrical switchgear
and protection equipment amounts to 5-15% and the balance is attributable to
design, project management and installation (including piping, civil and building
works).
For steam cycle cogeneration plant the high-pressure boiler is the single most
expensive item, followed by the steam turbine/generator.
Small-scale cogeneration plant based on spark ignition gas engines and dual-fuel
diesel engines tend to be marketed as complete packages including baseframe,
generator, heat exchangers and control equipment, accounting for 50-60% of the
total installed cost.
Operating Costs
These are the annual costs of operating cogeneration plant and comprise:
• fuel for the prime mover, and for supplementary and auxiliary firing if applicable;
• labour for operating and servicing the plant;
• maintenance materials and labour, including scheduled maintenance carried out
by the manufacturers. As some scheduled component replacements are often at
long intervals, maintenance costs should preferably be averaged over say five
years;
• consumables, e.g. lubricating oil, feedwater treatment chemicals, cooling tower
dosing, as applicable;
• back-up electricity prices and top up and export electricity prices.
Net overall running costs of the cogeneration plant can be obtained by deducting the
value of any exported electricity from the operating/maintenance costs.
To derive separate running costs for the cogeneration heat and electrical outputs,
the manufacturers' performance figures are used to proportion fuel consumption and
hence fuel costs, and similarly to allocate other costs. In most cases, this will
demonstrate that heat costs are the same as or somewhat higher than before and
that the critical cost in cogeneration economics is the total cost per kWh of electricity
generated.
Savings
If the cogeneration plant provides a relatively small proportion of the site's energy
demands and the unit costs of providing top-up heat and electricity remain
unchanged, annual savings are readily derived by subtracting the cogeneration total
running cost from the existing cost of the energy it displaces.
example, the reduced amount and different load profile of imported electricity may
mean higher tariffs; the reduced and possibly intermittent loading of conventional
boilers may have some effect on heat costs. In this case, the use of cogeneration
running costs alone is insufficient and comparison of total site energy costs with and
without cogeneration is necessary.
Existing energy costs are compiled from fuel and electricity bills, internal costs
records etc., updated if necessary to current price levels. If existing site energy
performance is capable of significant improvement by other energy efficiency
measures, these should also be appraised as a complementary or even competing
option to cogeneration.
FINANCING COGENERATION
Although cogeneration is a long-term investment, with equipment lifetimes of up to
forty years, in most cases it has to compete with other potential business projects
that are expected to yield rapid returns. In addition, since cogeneration is often not
considered to be core business plant, it receives a lower priority. These factors may
mean that schemes fall outside a company's investment criteria for utility plant so
alternative methods of financing often need to be investigated if cogeneration is to be
implemented.
The source of finance, ownership and degree of risk are the main factors to be taken
into account. If financed by direct capital injection using equity funds, debt or a
combination of both, the purchaser takes on full ownership and risk. The risk will
normally be offset by the terms of contract negotiated with all relevant parties.
Financing Options
There are two basic alternatives that may help to overcome the problems of justifying
full self-financing of cogeneration. These schemes also have an effect on ownership
and risk:
• to lease the plant, whilst undertaking all aspects of operation and maintenance;
Numerous variations of these basic concepts are available: contracts are negotiated
between the ESCO and the client to take account of the particular circumstances
and requirements of the site. These include Build Own and Operate (BOO), Build,
Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT), and Joint Venture Company.
The choice between these types of contract is dependent upon the nature of the
cogeneration (large or small), the company's investment and accounting policy, the
level of financial risk the purchaser is willing to bear and the financial return required.
ANNEX I
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The definitions given here relate specifically to the cogeneration context. Terms may
have broader or alternative meanings in other contexts.
Absorption Refrigeration/Chilling
Refrigeration plant that uses heat instead of electricity as its principal energy source,
and utilising, for example, water as a refrigerant and typically operating as a chiller
unit serving air-conditioning and process cooling. Water vapour from the evaporator
is absorbed in a substance having strong affinity for it (e.g. lithium bromide), from
which it is separated by heat (generator), condensed and re-admitted to the
evaporator. Minor amounts of electricity are required for solution and cooling water
pumping.
Alternator
A machine whose shaft is driven by an engine or turbine and converts mechanical
energy into alternating current (a.c.) electricity. More usually called a generator.
Auxiliary Firing
The burning of fuel (with its requisite air supply) on waste heat boilers when the
generator set is not running but the site heat supply is to be maintained.
Availability
See Reliability.
Bar
A unit of pressure measure, equivalent to approximately 14.5 lbf/in2 or 1 atmosphere
(lbf/in2 is commonly although less accurately expressed as lb/in2 or psig).
Back-pressure Steam
The steam from the low-pressure end of a steam turbine.
CO, CO2
Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide respectively. Oxides of carbon produced by fuel
combustion. CO represents incomplete combustion and can be burnt to CO2, which
is complete combustion.
Compression-Ignition
System used in reciprocating engines whereby fuel is injected after compression of
the air and is ignited by the heat generated by compression. As pre-ignition is
thereby eliminated, higher compression ratios than with spark-ignition engines can
be utilised, with corresponding high energy conversion efficiency.
Condensing
The steam turbine mode whereby steam surplus to site requirements is expanded to
the lowest practicable pressure (vacuum stage) to generate more electricity, then
exhausted to a condenser and the condensate returned to the boiler.
Diesel Engine
Takes its name from the famous German engineer Rudolf Diesel. A generic term for
compression-ignition reciprocating engines, whatever the fuel used.
Dosing
The addition of conditioning chemicals to boiler feedwater or cooling water to protect
plant from scaling, blocking, corrosion etc.
Dual-fuel
The use of two fuels in a prime mover or boiler. They may be alternatives e.g. with
one as standby if the main fuel supply is interrupted, or simultaneous e.g. gas plus a
small proportion of diesel used in compression ignition engines.
Excess Air
Reciprocating engines and gas turbines have to operate with far more air than is
needed purely for the combustion of the fuel. This excess over requirements forms
the major proportion of the exhaust gases and is termed excess air.
Fault Level
The maximum prospective current that can flow under a 3 phase short circuit
condition. It should be noted that it can vary according to the point in the system at
which the fault occurs. The magnitude of the fault level has a major influence on the
choice and design of the equipment to be used.
Frequency
The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration Page 43
rue Gulledelle 98 • 1200 Brussels • Belgium
T+32 2 772 82 90 • F+32 2 772 50 44 • e-mail: info@cogen.org • web: www.cogen.org
COGENERATION GUIDE
The number of times per second that alternating current changes direction.
Frequency is expressed as cycles/second or Hertz (Hz) of alternating current. The
public electricity supply in Europe is 50 Hz.
Feedwater Treatment
The conditioning of water to make it suitable for use in boilers and associated
systems. It is specific to the composition of the water on site, type of boiler plant etc.
and usually comprises some form of softening plus dosing.
Generator
An alternator or direct current (d.c.) generator. "Generator set" refers to the
combination of prime mover and generator.
Heat Exchanger
A device in which heat is transferred from one fluid stream to another without mixing.
There must obviously be a temperature difference between the streams for heat
exchange to occur. They are characterised by the method of construction or
operation, e.g. shell and tube, plate or rotary.
Heat Grade
A classification of heat source or heat requirement according to temperature. Up to
50°C would generally be classed low grade, otherwise grade limits vary according to
the context. Typically, medium grade would be about 50°C to 150°C and high grade
150°C upwards.
Heat:Power Ratio
The amounts of heat energy and electricity produced by a CHP unit, expressed as a
ratio. There is no agreed standard for its derivation and figures can vary depending
on whether gross or net CV of the fuel is used for example, or heat output is total or
practicably usable. When assessing prime movers, it is therefore essential that a
consistent method is employed. Figures in this Report are based on gross CV and
typically usable heat output.
In-duct Burner
A burner sited inside the duct of the air or gas stream it is heating, and thus also
adding its combustion products to the stream. A typical method of supplementary
firing where direct heat recovery is employed.
kV
Kilovolt = 1000 volts.
kW, kWe
Load Factor
The average intensity of usage of energy producing or consuming plant expressed
as a percentage of its maximum rating. Weekly load factor, for example, would be:
(total output or consumption x 100) %
(maximum hourly rating x 24 x 7)
MJ, GJ
Megajoules, Gigajoules. Units expressing quantity of heat energy. One GJ is
roughly equivalent to 10 therms or 280 kWh.
MW, MWe
Megawatt, megawatt electric. As for kW, kWe, but 1 MW = 1000 kW.
Network
The distribution system which links energy production to energy usage. Mostly
applied to electricity.
NOx
A general term for oxides of nitrogen produced by fuel combustion, eventually
discharged to atmosphere and considered deleterious emissions.
Parasitic
Adjective for the electricity used within the CHP plant itself and therefore reducing
the amount available for beneficial use.
Particulates
Particles of solid matter, usually of very small size, derived from the fuel either
directly or as a result of incomplete combustion and considered deleterious
emissions.
Pass-out steam
Also called extraction steam. Steam taken part-way along a steam turbine to serve a
requirement for that particular pressure, the balance remaining in the turbine to the
exhaust stage to generate more power. There may be more than one pass-out
tapping to serve differing site requirements.
Power Factor
kW (MW) divided by kVA (MVA), stated for a given point in an a.c. electricity
network, e.g. the incoming supply to a consumer. Tariffs usually have a direct or
indirect penalty charge for poor power factor (say below 0.95), which can be avoided
by installing power factor correction equipment.
Premium
A general term to describe the quality of a fuel in terms of handling/storage,
combustion, consistency of composition, pollutants etc., e.g. natural gas high
premium, heavy fuel oil low premium. Fuel price usually follows premium value.
Prime Mover
A prime mover is the drive system for a CHP scheme. The systems that are
currently available are all based on engines. There are three commonly used prime
movers: gas turbines; reciprocating engines; steam turbines.
Reciprocating Engine
Strictly speaking, all prime movers are engines. When the mechanical power is
produced by the to-and-fro ("reciprocating") movement of piston within cylinder,
machines are so-called to distinguish them from purely rotating machines like
turbines.
Sankey Diagram
Named from its originator. A diagram demonstrating graphically and in true
proportion the energy flows in a system, stating with the energy sources at the left
and showing losses, heat exchange loops etc. to the degree desired.
Shaft Efficiency
That percentage of its initial energy supply that a prime mover delivers as
mechanical energy at its output shaft; NOTE - check whether gross or net CV is used
to calculate input energy.
SOx
A generic term for oxides of sulphur produced by the combustion of sulphur in the
fuel, and considered as deleterious emissions. Their presence in flue gases can
restrict thermal efficiency, because if the flue gas temperature is reduced below
specific levels, highly corrosive sulphurous and sulphuric acids are deposited on heat
exchange surfaces.
Spark-ignition
A reciprocating engine that utilises an electrical spark to ignite the compressed
air/fuel mixture in the cylinders.
Superheated Steam
Steam whose temperature has been raised above the saturation temperature
corresponding to its pressure. This is done almost exclusively to improve its power
generating capacity when used in a steam turbine.
Supplementary Firing
The firing of additional fuel in the CHP heat recovery unit, utilising the hot oxygen
present as excess air in the prime mover exhaust gases.
Synchronism
The condition whereby generator frequency and voltage levels match those of the
public supply. When operating in parallel mode, it is obligatory to maintain these
levels within closely specified limits.
Thermal Oil
Transformer (voltage)
A device with primary and secondary windings to convert the voltage of electricity
from one value to another. Transformers may be step-up or step-down i.e. voltage
increased or reduced, and there may be more than one secondary tapping to give a
choice of output voltage.
ANNEX II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A number of organisations and people have supplied information. Without their help
this Guide would not have been possible. COGEN Europe is very thankful to all of
them: